Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 12/27/2008 10:55 AM | National The truth about poverty in Indonesia spoke for itself when, in September, 21 poor women lost their lives in a stampede trying to get US$2 worth of alms being handed out by a rich family in Pasuruan, East Java. The tragedy occurred just one month after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono delivered a speech claiming the country had recorded a poverty rate of 15.4 percent, the lowest in 10 years. According to Yudhoyono, the figure represented 34.96 million poor people, or a decrease of 2.21 million from last year. The international NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID) said the tragedy indicated that the number of poor people actually increased following the government's decision in May to raise the price of fuel by 28.7 percent, implement the kerosene-to-gas conversion program and scrap price controls on basic commodities. The government was, however, confident enough to say it would reach its target of cutting the poverty rate to between 12 and 14 percent by 2009, a revision of its earlier, more ambitious goal of 8.2 percent. The government allocated Rp 58 trillion ($US5.2 billion) in this year's state budget for poverty alleviation programs, scattered throughout 22 ministries. It announced, proudly, that this was an increase on the Rp 51 trillion allocated in the 2007 budget. On top of this, the government is set to allocate an additional Rp 66 trillion next year. The funds are channeled to the poor through a number of programs, including the direct cash assistance program (BLT; Rp 14 trillion), the National People's Empowerment Program, (PNPM; Rp 15 trillion), the rice for the poor program (Raskin; Rp 12 trillion), the School Operational Aid program (BOS; Rp 11 trillion), the health insurance for low-income people program (Jamkesmas; Rp 4.6 trillion) and the Hopeful Family Program (PKH; Rp 1.3 trillion).